It is the ultimate achievement of any business … to earn the trust of buying customers. Once you’ve done it (and continue to do it), the customers, the word-of-mouth, the revenue, can all come at a rate unthinkable by any other method. Online, true trustworthiness stands out. Mr. Bulygo has a few examples to help you get there.

Who else but a Slovenian philosopher, sociologist and legal theorist could so clearly explain why too much choice leads to human anxiety? Though Dr. Salecl is teaching through a socio-political lens in this video, there is much to learn from her about good copywriting, landing pages that work, and crafting a great offer.

Western culture has been obssessed with the quick fix for around two centuries. Whether it’s the huckster-preacher making bad promises in God’s name, or the snake oil salesman calling out from a soapbox on a dirt road, we’ve been hoping all along that one of them will set up shop and give us what we think we want. Thing is, none of us really wants a quick fix. Work, effort, toil, and honest reward are in our DNA. We were made to craft and create, to work for our bread, and one of the great joys of life lies in the practice of … deliberate practice.

Will the right number in the right column of the right budget solve your business problems? Cash certainly eases many woes in business and in life, but the problem (and pursuit) of innovation isn’t one of them. It’s contradictory to our own logic. Again, we think we know what we need. But if cash is the answer, why do we always look back at The Good Old Days, marveling at what we accomplished with so few resources at hand? We look back because it reminds us of what we’re capable of when the chips are down. And we know that money doesn’t play all that large a part in the equation of innovation.

A good copywriter is a good amateur psychologist. Many think the copywriter’s pursuit of understanding the human brain is merely an excuse to try and manipulate it for financial gain. If this is true of you, you are a huckster, a flim-flam man, and/or a bunco artist. The real copywriter — the craftsperson — peers into human psychology, because it is the human being that she must better empathize and communicate with. Like any tool in the box, you can use it for good or ill. Use it for good.

Measurability. Cost-effectiveness. Laser targeting. And, most importantly, that holy grail of marketing assets … permission. Done right, that’s email. All these years later, no other sales medium can touch it. Are you pushing “send” to grow your business, or are you put off by this seemingly old-fashioned line of communication? Earn permission. Write emails. Generate revenue.